State v. Reinhart

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the trial court granting Defendant’s petition for specialized driving privileges, holding that the proper venue for seeking relief when the petitioner “forfeits” driving privileges for life following a felony conviction for driving while suspended is the trial court in the petitioner’s county of residence.Petitioner, a resident of Adams County, was subject to a driver’s license suspension that was a lifetime forfeiture resulting from a felony conviction for driving while suspended as a habitual traffic violator. Petitioner petitioned the Adams Superior Court for specialized driving privileges (DSP), seeking relief that that suspension and two other suspensions. The superior court granted the SDP petition. The court of appeals reversed and remanded, holding that where the Noble Superior Court ordered the lifetime forfeiture, Petitioner was required to petition that court separately for SDP. The Supreme Court reversed, holding the lifetime forfeiture in this case was an administrative suspension rather than a court-ordered suspension, and therefore, Petitioner was required to seek relief in his county of residence rather than in the court that ordered the suspension. View "State v. Reinhart" on Justia Law